| Noun | 1. | Mideast - the area around the eastern Mediterranean; from Turkey to northern Africa and eastward to Iran; the site of such ancient civilizations as Phoenicia and Babylon and Egypt and the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity and Islam; had continuous economic and political turmoil in the 20th century; "the Middle East is the cradle of Western civilization"Operation Desert Storm - the United States and its allies defeated Iraq in a ground war that lasted 100 hours (1991) Six Day War, Six-Day War, Arab-Israeli War - tension between Arabs and Israeli erupted into a brief war in June 1967; Israel emerged as a major power in the Middle East Arab-Israeli War, Yom Kippur War - Egypt and Syria attacked Israel in October 1973 (on Yom Kippur); Israel counterattacked and drove the Syrians back and crossed the Suez Canal into Egypt zarf - an ornamental metal cup-shaped holder for a hot coffee cup pita, pocket bread - usually small round bread that can open into a pocket for filling Fertile Crescent - a geographical area of fertile land in the Middle East stretching in a broad semicircle from the Nile to the Tigris and Euphrates Israel - an ancient kingdom of the Hebrew tribes at the southeastern end of the Mediterranean Sea; founded by Saul around 1025 BC and destroyed by the Assyrians in 721 BC Israel, State of Israel, Yisrael, Zion, Sion - Jewish republic in southwestern Asia at eastern end of Mediterranean; formerly part of Palestine Arab Republic of Egypt, Egypt, United Arab Republic - a republic in northeastern Africa known as the United Arab Republic until 1971; site of an ancient civilization that flourished from 2600 to 30 BC Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Persia - a theocratic Islamic republic in the Middle East in western Asia; Iran was the core of the ancient empire that was known as Persia until 1935; rich in oil Al-Iraq, Irak, Iraq, Republic of Iraq - a republic in the Middle East in western Asia; the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia was in the area now known as Iraq Levant - the former name for the geographical area of the eastern Mediterranean that is now occupied by Lebanon, Syria, and Israel Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Jordan - an Arab kingdom in southwestern Asia on the Red Sea State of Kuwait, Koweit, Kuwait - an Arab kingdom in Asia on the northwestern coast of the Persian Gulf; a major source of petroleum Lebanese Republic, Lebanon - an Asian republic at east end of Mediterranean Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia - an absolute monarchy occupying most of the Arabian Peninsula in southwest Asia; vast oil reserves dominate the economy Syria, Syrian Arab Republic - an Asian republic in the Middle East at the east end of the Mediterranean; site of some of the world's most ancient centers of civilization Republic of Turkey, Turkey - a Eurasian republic in Asia Minor and the Balkans; on the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, the Young Turks, led by Kemal Ataturk, established a republic in 1923 |